Don't be one of those annoying traders who treats the number of contracts they have on at any given point as a reflection of their self-worth. You don't always need to be swinging for the fences. In fact, the truth is that sometimes you need to size down if you want to size up in the long run.
Trading small increases your flexibility and allows you to work on improving your consistency without risking your entire account, home, minivan etc. Most successful traders would agree that you should only start dialing up the risk once you can be reliably profitable with a small fraction of your position limit. Embracing this process is key to your long-term viability as a trader. Be consistent, and the size will follow. Make it your mantra.
Here's what Michael has to say about sizing down to size up: